Our aim is to sketch the outlines of a new science which is to intermediate between the modern laboratory psychology and the problems of economics: the psychological experiment is systematically to be placed at the service of commerce and industry. So far we have only scattered beginnings of the new doctrine, only tentative efforts and disconnected attempts which have started, sometimes in economic, and sometimes in psychological, quarters. The time when an exact psychology of business life will be presented as a closed and perfected system lies very far distant. But the earlier the attention of wider circles is directed to its beginnings and to the importance and bearings of its tasks, the quicker and the more sound will be the development of this young science.

Psychology and Industrial Efficiency

Do the photoplays furnish us only a photographic reproduction of a stage performance; is their aim thus simply to be an inexpensive substitute for the real theater, and is their esthetic standing accordingly far below that of the true dramatic art, related to it as the photograph of a painting to the original canvas of the master? Or do the moving pictures bring us an independent art, controlled by esthetic laws of its own, working with mental appeals which are fundamentally different from those of the theater, with a sphere of its own and with ideal aims of its own?

The Photoplay

This volume on psychotherapy belongs to a series of books which I am writing to discuss for a wider public the practical applications of modern psychology.

The chief aim of this book is twofold. It is a negative one: I want to counteract the misunderstandings which overflood the whole field, especially by the careless mixing of mental and moral influence. And a positive one: I want to strengthen the public feeling that the time has come when every physician should systematically study psychology, the normal in the college years and the abnormal in the medical school. This demand of medical education cannot be postponed any longer.

Psychotherapy: the practical applications of modern psychology

Publié à New York en 1916, The Photoplay : A Psychological Studyconstitue la première étude systématique jamais consacrée au cinéma. En décrivant, avec les outils de la psychologie expérimentale dont il est l'un des pionniers, les opérations mentales mises en jeu par le spectateur de films, Hugo Münsterberg (1863-1916), professeur allemand exilé aux Etats-Unis, tente de décrire les spécificités techniques et narratives du cinéma, afin de conférer à cet art nouveau un statut esthétique autonome. Cet essai de Münsterberg s'est imposé comme une référence incontournable dans le champ de l'histoire du cinéma. En intégrant le film dans la série culturelle des images animées, il permet de revenir sur les origines multiples du cinématographe, notamment sur les expérimentations scientifiques d'un Marey ou d'un Muybridge et sur les jouets optiques du XIXe siècle. Mais il propose également une réflexion stimulante sur le positionnement du spectateur et le dispositif filmique, dans une perspective psycho-physiologique qu'il est possible de confronter aux approches psychanalytiques et cognitivistes du cinéma qui se sont développées par la suite.

Le cinéma : une étude psychologique et autres essais

Der Autor hat verschiedene soziale Fragen ausgewählt und sich mit ihnen beschäftigt. Zu den Fragen gehören Geschlecht, Sozialismus, Aberglaube und Wahlrechte. Die Sezierung der psychologischen und psychophysiologischen Wurzeln von Sozialproblemen wird immer wichtiger, und die Annäherung mit experimentellen Methoden ist sogar möglich. In der New York Times veröffentlichte der Autor einen Artikel, der sich mit dem Sexualproblem befasste. Er führte zu vehementen Angriffen aus dem ganzen Land. Der Aufsatz über Sexualerziehung ist deswegen ein Argument und gleichzeitig eine ausführliche Antwort auf die lebhafte öffentliche Diskussion. Insgesamt ist dieses Buch ein äusserst interessantes Werk vom Pionier der Sozialpsychologie.

Psychologie und soziale Vernunft

This book treats of woman's Struggle for Liberty in Germany, and the development of instruction for the two sexes.

"The girls' schools established by the Government provide well for the study of the modern languages, and it is the exception to find women in the upper classes who do not speak French and English. Literature, religion, gymnastics, and needlework are also well taught. The course of study in the high school includes a little mathematics, offered under the name of reckoning, and sufficient to enable a woman to keep the accounts of a household, and also a little science of the kind that can be learned without a knowledge of mathematics. Let me quote a paragraph from the report of the Minister of Public Instruction for the year 1898 in regard to the aim of the mathematical course in the girls' high schools: "Accuracy in reckoning with numbers and the ability to use numbers in the common relations of life, especially in housekeeping. Great weight is laid upon quick mental computations, but in all grades the choice of problems should be such as especially apply to the keeping of a house." This is the opportunity which is offered to girls by the Government in the department of mathematics! In addition to the two grades of schools mentioned there are seminaries in many of the large cities for the purpose of educating women teachers. The instructors in these seminaries are well prepared for their positions, are mostly men, and the instruction given is very superior to that given in the girls' high schools. Latin and Greek are, however, not studied in these seminaries, and mathematics and science are expurgated, we might say, of points that might prove difficult for the feminine intellect..."

Livres